Categories

Search Archives

Gerald McCoy Talks About His Return, Schiano

January 31st, 2012

Buzzing around Super Bowl media today, Joe ran into Gerald McCoy. Of course, Joe asked McCoy about new Bucs head coach Greg Schiano and more. For the second consecutive offseason, McCoy is successfully rehabbing a torn bicep in San Diego, and he said there’s a positive buzz among his teammates about the Schiano hire. Here’s some of Joe’s conversation with the 2010 first-round pick:

JoeBucsFan.com: Was the Greg Schiano hire a shock to you?

Gerald McCoy: Yeah it was. One thing, I did expect our owners to be unpredictable, and to do the opposite of what everybody expected. And they did, man. Nobody heard anything about Coach Schiano until he was ready to sign. And that’s what I love. He’s an old soul, a no-nonsense coach who completely flipped and changed around that Rutgers program. He’s defensive-minded so, you know, that’s what I’m about. So I love it. I’m excited to see what he does.

Joe: Have you spoken to him?

McCoy: I haven’t talked to him yet because when I went to Tampa, he wasn’t there. But I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet.

Joe: Will you call him?

McCoy: I’m going to definitely, definitely call him. He’s my head coach, and I like to have a close-knit relationship with my coaches.

Joe: Do you have any inkling what Schiano will want you to do defensively? Heard anything through the grapevine?

McCoy: You know, I talked to the GM, Mark Dominik. And he just told me to do the same thing I’ve been doing. Just remain a leader and, you know, do what it is I do. Don’t change up nothing that I’m doing.

Joe: Have you heard anything about possible assistant coaches?

McCoy: No, I haven’t heard anything, just like I didn’t hear about [Schiano] until everyone else did.

Joe: Will you be ready and healthy for OTAs?

McCoy: Yeah. When everything starts back up, on April 23 when we report back, I’ll be there. I’ll be the first one in the building ready to roll.

McCoy: I’m going to definitely, definitely call him. He’s my head coach, and I like to have a close-knit relationship with my coaches…

You want a close relation ship so that is why you haven’t texted or called him? No email? No “Grats lets get to work?” Then Dom saying”Just remain a leader and, you know, do what it is I do. ” Dude You get hurt, you lead the team by bailing on Rah, and your not that good.

Look, it’s easy to criticize but I have liked what I see out of McCoy. Flat out bad luck, maybe conditioning, has rendered him injured. Get a healthy season out for him this year. Gotta hit the weight room hard and I think everyone will be happy with McCoy’s results.

It’s unfair to question his ability. He has definitely shown, at times, that he is everything we want him to be. That said, it’s still hard to truly gauge him because he’s been hurt. So it is fair to question his apparent knack for being injury prone. I think this year he needs to be in all 16+ games to lay the durability questions to rest.

Gerald tweets stupid things all the time along with Geno Hayes and Ahmad Black… The only tweets I wanna read are they you’re in the gym rehabbing, pumping iron and making yourselves man-beasts and ready for the new regime after our defense’s pathetic performances in 2011. :/

I really hope this kid can stay healthy. Despite what some of the more ignorant posters on JBF say, he’s a super talent and when he’s been on the field he’s played really well. He’ll be the key that gets this defensive line going and to the elite level that it could be. Really praying we don’t get too many more freak injuries, I don’t want Gerald to turn out like Caddy, awesome talent but hurt too much.

Just like in College – Softy’s above-average talent never developed into major production. His highest sack total was 6 against Big 12 competition (Suh had something like 20 sacks against the same comp).

Sacks do not tell the entire story but are very indicative of pressures and pass play disruption. There is almost always a correlation.

Softy’s refusal to take the weight room seriously has caused his fragility and why he loses gap integrity so frequently.

The entire league knows that when he lines in at 3 technique (for you novices – that is the outside shoulder of the guard toward the B gap) he will try to use his get-off to get in the B gap. That is McCoy’s one-dimensional go-to move that is effective once or twice a game but on other plays the opposition coordinates plays right underneath him and isolates a full back or H back on the backer and it causes huge holes in the run game.

Softy needs to get stronger and more physical which will allow the bucs to run Games (Tangos – tackle stunts, twists – tackle-end stunts) to make them less predictable. Softy doesnt do this well bc he doesnt like to engage the blocker even if it means controlling his gap.

I have seen some ability from Softy to be an asset in the run game when he gets-off first into the B Gap. Softy has been a complete and total disaster in his pass rush game (bc the O Lineman’s first step is back instead of forward neutralizing his get-off ability).

I think due to Softy’s fragility and one dimensional skills that he would best be utilized as a situational part-time player – a first down and second in short specialist. On obvious passing downs, they should bring in or move down a pass rush specialist – like a Michael Bennett.

Otherwise, Softy will be on the IR come mid-season and we will have wasted 30 million instead of the 20 million that we have wasted so far.

LOL! I have to give you credit ‘lil Tommy…when it comes to ignorance and stupidity you are without peer. It’s amazing that you still think people give your posts any credibility at all. These posts about McCoy are so beyond stupid…..

@sharkcoasttactical.com
How did McCoy bail on Raheem? McCoy was giving all out effort, and that led to an injury.

@Thomas
You really have no clue.

Sacks do not tell the entire story but are very indicative of pressures and pass play disruption. There is almost always a correlation.
McCoy was the only Defensive Tackle getting penetration and disrupting the pass. Albert Haynesworth never got more than 8 sacks per year, and before he went to the Skins he was considered the top DT. GMC does disrupt things…you just like to point the finger at anything and everything.

Softy’s refusal to take the weight room seriously has caused his fragility and why he loses gap integrity so frequently.
First…prove that he refused to take the weight room seriously. NEVER has this been reported.

Second, his problem was inflexibility and technique (see coaches on the technique). This is what led to each of his injuries.

It was his pass rush that was improving last season before his injury. He was getting to the QB faster and faster…and he was improving because of Milliard. He also did not have an off season training program. Like it or not, that DOES affect young players.

Second, while reading about Schiano on the ole’ interwebs I’ve found a few things about his defenses:

*He’s an elite-level Steve Spagnuolo/Dick LeBeau-type blitzer.
*He’s run small/fast defenses. (Probably due to recruiting) He’s obsessed with speed on D.
*Man-to-man heavy
*Struggles against power run schemes

It has been mentioned by several sources that at first glance he hasn’t made much impact. Then after actually watching film McCoy has been a major pain in the ass to apposing D’s. Of course this does not address the biceps. If you can believe it, he’s already to start lifting again. Like last year he has shown remarkable ability to heal quickly. Not a bad trait to have in his line of business.. I’d love to see this kid stay healthy ,mature and become dominant. As well as Bowers..I believe we have some talent here that needs a fair shake.Meaning an off season with quality Teaching/Coaching..A couple of key veterans to lead ..With that and direction it should take the pressure off the young one’s letting them concentrate on their position and playbook responsibilities only.

Allen is a DE- a pass rush specialist.
McCoy is a DT- he does need to hold his gap better. His first step off snap is what cathes your eye. Once his football IQ and vision improves he’ll be a good one, you just watch.

It’s easy to get down on McCoy, I don’t think he’s lived up to anybody’s expectations yet. There’s one thing that can’t be denied though, after he got hurt last year, we never won another game and the defense wasn’t the same the rest of the year.

@ Thomas, I’m sure you won’t respond to this, because you rarely ever respond to me calling you out for your supreme ignorance and your blatant bull crap lies that you post. However I’ll ask you again, are you willing to have this Gerald Mccoy argument with actual experts on the defensive line position? Steve White and Keith Millard are guys I would listen to if they told me a guy was a good player on the defensive line. I wouldn’t listen to Thomas if he told me a place had a good burger and fries.

Oh yeah, and I’m curious like Pete as to your source that Gerald refused to take weight lifting seriously. Or is that just another blatant lie?

JOE, what Thomas is doing seriously isn’t right. You can voice your opinion and what not and say that Gerald isn’t a good player or this guy isn’t a good coach, but making up lies like “Blount was over-weight, and lazy in the weight room” and saying Gerald refused to do this and that and Mike Williams was late constantly. Making up stuff about players just isn’t right and I would hope that when commenters make crap up without a source about a player you would censor the comment. Slander about a guy is just wrong.

Coach Schiano took time out yesturday to communicate with the Plant High School coach in Tampa. But McCoy is going to talk to Coach Schiano. Guess Coach must be last on his list!! I can see who the better person is NOW!!

@k2snosoldier: what I said about Blount and Williams came mostly from Charlie Campbell’s article on Walter Football that cited former buc coaches as his sources. See Joe’s article yesterday.

Steve White partially agrees with me, his assessment was that Softy was effective in the run game but not in the pass game this year. Millard said that McCoy had bad technique and a lot of work to do when he came here in 2011 – admitting that McCoy was not good in 2010 – something everyone credible agrees with as evidenced by the fact that Wash (the D Line coach got fired).

A major knock coming out of college against McCoy was how badly he performed on the 225 bench press at the combine. Many experts discussed that he could not have been taking weight-lifting seriously at OU and been so weak – if I remember correctly he did less than 50% of the reps of some of the stronger lineman.

Here is a quote from Mike Mayock on Bleacher Report after McCoy’s embarrassing performance at the combine: Mayock said Monday on NFL Network. “I was stunned that McCoy only did 23 reps. That tells me he hasn’t been in the weight room the way he should have been over the last three years.”

Then, not surprisingly he suffers 3 upper body injuries (2 biceps and a shoulder) in less than a season and a half. Coincidence? Nope.

How is that for sources? If you want to ban someone ban Mayock and Charlie Campbell.

@Bobby Sapp threw up five bisquits on each side on the bench he won the nfl strongman contest twice. any lineman who can’t bench his bodyweight for twenty reps won’t be abe to disrupt much on the line of scrimmage. Most nfl linemen are benching high fours five hundred for reps

Sapp did less reps at the combine then McCoy did at his combine. I don’t care what he did later. We’re talking about the combine. If you don’t think McCoy disrupted the line of scrimmage you are flat out blind.

this guy should live under the squat rack and dwell on the bench he should be banging out clean and jerks doing jumpsquats and lunges every opportunity he gets he can learn all the techniques he needs in practice but this guy is an empty can he needs Todd Torriscelli in his ear like the Drill instructor from full metal jacket on your feet fatbody time for drill up down up down

@chrisfwc So I guess they should start removing all weights from every nfl training room put in vending machines and pool tables oh yeah can’t forget the dancing girls and smoking products bong hits and lap dances for all the under achievers here we go

@Thomas: First of all, what Bobby said is absolutely right. Bench pressing more wouldn’t have prevented Gerald’s bicep injuries. There was a great article I read all about that, I wish I had the link. I’ll look for it and post it if I can dig it up.
The fact that Sapp did LESS than Mccoy is 1) Not something I knew, and 2) Very telling, and 3) Puts your silly little argument to rest.

Of course you’ll quote Millard on what he said before this year. What about Millards interview with Joe when he spoke on Gerald Mccoy? Steve White doesn’t agree with you at all. By your assessment Mccoy is a bust and a situational pass rusher, by White’s assessment he’s a great defensive tackle and no-brainer starter in the NFL. White essentially broke his arm patting himself on the back for sticking up for Mccoy for so long after Millard came out and stood up for Mccoy as well.

Pertaining to Charlie Campell, his story was listed under “RUMOR MILL”, because he was using anonymous sources, and is essentially just that, RUMORS. Until I hear it from a coach or a player straight up, I don’t consider it fact, nor should anybody else. I could easily write up a sotry on my blog saying “RUMOR, JOSH FREEMAN RESPONSIBLE FOR 9/11”. and cite anonymous sources. Would you believe that too? Rumors aren’t facts, they’re rumors. For you to read Joe’s article yesterday and take it as a fact that those guys have poor work ethics makes me seriously question your reading comprehension.

Next time bring me REAL sources, and a REAL argument. I feel as if I’ve wasted my time stating the obvious to you.

@Sandbag……I have no problem believing Sapp threw up five biscuits. He ate far more than that. I guess we should be glad only five came back up. “Sapp threw up five biscuits on each side of the bench’…..LOL! Yeah….sure he did.

SteveK…GMC has sim numbers to Sapp in his first year, and may have sgtayed the course in his second year. I guess by your standards they should have sent Sapp packing after year 2. Also, ehat do you care how much the Bucs are paying him, it is not your money? The NFL has addressed the rookie salary issue, but McCoy made it to the NFL before the change…deal with it. I guess Suh was a bust this year too, he cannot seem to stay on the field due to suspensions and his sack total was not all that great in year 2. Remember, GMC had no veteran linemen to help him out, like Suh did. And if you are one of those fools that think TB should have traded up, well then I cannot even start to help you understand why that was not going to happen.

@Thomas
Nice try, but you were saying those things BEFORE Campbell’s article came out…and his “sources” are questionable as well.

If I, as a published author, were to state that anonymous sources informed me that Warren Sapp was secretly being considered as Defensive Line coach, would you quote that as well?

Would you assume what I said was true? Campbell is no longer even working near the team. AND…was he here when the last group of coaches were here?

And, even if his sources were real…those guys were FIRED. They would have no reason to lie, would they?

@K2theSoldier and @ Bobby
Good to see there are still some smart, positive fans around. I only have the positive side down, but am working on the smart part.

@stevek
This is as close to agreeing with you that I will get, so listen close:

It is true that Gerald McCoy has not met his potential YET.

However…

…look at guys like a Matthew Stafford…he suffered injuries longer and still came back to be successful. Sometimes players have a rough start because of injuries.

The good news is GMCs injuries are not in the same spot…which means they are not chronic. He’s just had a run of bad luck.

He WAS starting to improve before the injury in a big way though. I didn’t see the other DTs winning any games or helping the defense do better…GMC did while he was playing.

So far as Albert Haynesworth…if we would have gotten him years ago, for a good price, he might have been salvageable. As it stands, even if he squeezes out a good year or two, he’s going to be used up fast.

No Bobby I’m your mother telling everyone on this site that your still pissing the bed and live in my basement and you’re a miserable loser who I should have aborted but needed the child support money to support my crack addiction thats who I am now that you made me tell everyone I may as well let them know about your other dirty secrets

I think everyone is missing the point. If Gerald can just make it through the whole season he will naturally get better. I personally think that Brian Price is going to be the star inside. Just imagine if he is 90% this season. That’s a lot to account for for offensive lines next to McCoy with Predator, Bowers and Bennett on the outside. Add a sneaky free agent mike with Foster on the outside with Watson or Black or whoever.

Charlie Campbell is a journalist. To say that he did not have former buc coaches as sources when he said he did – is calling him a liar. You are only calling Campbell a liar bc his sources do not support your desired conclusion.

Stop trying to compare Sapp to McCoy. Sapp played 32 games in 2 years and finished with 12 sacks (I believe).

If you don’t quote your sources you’re not a journalist, you’re a charlatan. If you can’t quote sources then you shouldn’t be reporting the story. Anyone who makes a statement to a ‘journalist’ and then doesn’t want to be quoted should remain unreported. If you go out on a limb and quote someone as ‘anonymous’ who wants to remain ‘off the record’ with inflammatory information then you should expect to be called a liar.

Thomas….Sapp had 17 tackles and 3 sacks his first year. He had 41 tackles and 9 sacks his second year. He was healthy both years. YOU are the one who constantly wants to compare McCoy to Sapp brainiac. I’ve told you from day one that McCoy will be a perennial pro bowler for this team. You’ve had him as a bust since day one because you didn’t get your beloved Suh in the draft. Time will tell who is right.

I’m not judging McCoy or giving up on him at all, but bottomline, if you can’t stay healthy and be there for us, you’re a waste of a roster spot.

McCoy needs to STAY HEALTHY this year and be a dominant force on our line!!

Same with Price.

I agree with SteveK and a few others……1st round pick being paid 35 million guaranteed. And what has he really done for us in two years now? So far…..”so far” he’s been a waste of a pick. Not saying he is, but so far he has.

And do you guys ever think we should fire our strength and conditioning coach? Cause it seems like our team is always plagued with injuries every damn season! There obviously don’t seem to be in very good shape. Going back to Gruden’s early years as coach, we can’t EVER stay healthy and our key players are always hurt.

DEs get sacks. That’s their job. Dts disrupt the pocket. Thats their job. Comparing Jared Allen( DE) to a DT means you know nothing about football. McCoy was our best defensive player until he got hurt, at which time our defense collapsed.

The only unit that didn’t quit last year was the D-Line. Even Albert played hard, but was totally lacking in fundamentals to play gap defense. That’s Keith Millard that kept them playing hard. McCoy has no history of injuries prior to the Bicep issues. He got those from trying to hard- reaching to make tackles that should be made by our MLB- if we had one!

No matter what Raheem2 does, McCoy will again dominate. Everyone intelligent has pointed that out.

Can you dumb ones find something else to bitch about, that doesn’t show your ignorance! Like why we hired another Raheem to fix this mess! It’s Raheem all over again- different Chin and Skin, still no damn experience or track record. Even you dumb ones should see that.

I have always hated the strength and conditioning staff of this team. I don’t know if its the hot environment or something else, but something is causing injuries here. And it has always been a problem…even when Sam was coach.

I wish we had a stadium with a retractable roof…at least then the option would be there to have cooler practices…and that, I think, could help with injuries and cold weather games.

BUT…too late for that option. Maybe they should practice more in the Trop?

We have one of the top 5 hottest practice facilities. The new one buc had helped, but its is still a problem.

McCoy will “again” dominate? When was that I must have missed it. You must be referring to high school.

McCoy has done NOTHING in the NFL so far, in fact he has done less than Geno Atkins a 4th round pick from McCoy’s draft who made the Pro Bowl this year, Karl Krug a rookie 5th round pick (I think) and Henry Melton a 3rd year (who missed most of 2009) 4th round draft pick.

The Bucs defense stunk with and without McCoy. In fact the Bucs best defensive performance was against the Saints (a game McCoy missed bc of an ankle sprain). McCoy has missed games due to 4 different injuries not just the biceps injuries. McCoy has had 3 or 4 of his 16 where he had no stat line. His best game this year was against a decimated Colts offense and line.

To say that you aren’t utterly disappointed with McCoy so far is just dumb.
Mayock said it today. You can argue that he may produce later if he stays healthy, but the past has been a huge disappointment.

Capt Tim: stop with this absurd argument that Schiano is another Rah. Rah had never led anything at any level – rah was not even a pop Warner head coach. He had no executive skills at all. He had never built anything, he had no resume at all. All you have to do is look at the NFL: Gary Bracket, Britt, McCourty, Rice, Zuttah – these are all players who were made NFL ready. Rah took NFL ready players and made them so bad that they couldn’t play at Rutgers (see Black and Hayes).
Rah is the worst excuse for a coach thus far in NFL history. See the last 10 weeks.schiano has been a head coach at a Division 1 university for 11 years, he built and established that Program as one more successful than USF. Jim Harbaugh didn’t win anything big at Stanford but he built a Program.

Eric Berry made a Pro Bowl from that draft. Suh made a pro bowl. JPP made the pro bowl. Geno Hayes made the pro bowl from that draft. Rob Gronkowski made the pro bowl from that draft. Devin Mccourty made the pro bowl from that draft. 13 players from that draft have made the pro bowl.

Its nice to see Thomas back in his element. He is the number 1 Basher here.

I saw that Sapp laid into Suh and the Lion’s defense. Sapp may be a jerk at times but he knows how to play tackle the right way.

Every afternoon/evening I come on here and keep hoping to see who our Coordinators will be. But not yet.

I think Schiano will get the most out of McCoy, Clayborn, Price and Bowers. I sure hope that Price is doing some serious dieting and training right now. If Fat Albert can lose about 40Lbs he could also be a dominant force again.

Gerald McCoy needs to stay healthy……you THINK?
Sure hope he does because I still very much like him on this team and think he can be a very good player here.
In fact, as was pointed out, we still have a lot of talent on the DL and I’d love to see them all healthy and playing together this summer and fall.

Thomas
From New Jersey. Brief NFL stint as a DB coach. Played .500 ball at a tiny little college. Never won a game against big time competition. Never won his conference. Reputation for panicking during games, and not being able to adjust during games. Plus- he was hand picked by the Rockstar, Dim.

The only thing that matters for a coach, is getting your players to buy into your system. Why would any of our players be impressed with this guy. If McCoy had seen Rutgers on his schedule at Oklahoma, he would have known they were another weak sister punching bag to tune them up for a real game
Shiano couldn’t adjust to what the Big East threw at him?? Let’s see how he holds up when Drew Brees is eating him alive.

No credentials at all. No rep to draw respect. This team tuned Raheem out- why would they listen to this guy?

First You wanted Cowher, now you are all excited about this Raheem copy. What, do you just have a thing for huge jaws?
I have a caveman mandible- Meybe I should apply, at least you’d be on my side, lol

In 2006 after leading Rutgers to as high as #6 in the Nation and a 10-2 record, Rutgers defeated Kansas State 37-10 in the Texas Bowl.

The Quarterback from K State Rutgers and Schiano held to just 10-21 129 yards and 2 picks – Josh Freeman. The k state defensive coordinator Rutgers ran up and down the field on: your exiled disgraced coach Rah Rah Morris.

Apparently, if Rutgers was a “weak sister” the college of your qb and canned coach was like a weak infant, I guess.

Btw : the 06 Oklahoma team finished ranked 11th While Schiano’s Rutgers team finished ranked 12th.
Schiano was NCAA div 1 coach of the year.” Miami offered him their head coaching position.

Thomas…I agree with you on the coach, and am a bit shocked at Capt Tim being so negative this early…You fail to point out Freeman was a Freshman the only time the new coach played him…He said so himself. He also said Freeman scared him because of his ability out of the pocket.

Shiano beat Kansas State?? I had no idea!! Let’s make him King!
2 picks from Freeman? He averages 3. Everybody runs on Raheems defense, I coulda picked up 100 yards

Rutgers to Miami- small college to big college- worth a shot
Small college to NFL??? Just madness
Like going from Lakeland High school to head coach at Florida- to big of a transition.
I hope I’m wrong, but my magic eightball said ” absolutely!”

everybody wishes their top 5 pick comes in and kills it…. many times that is not the case. GMC is still just a kid (a huge one) with 16 games under his belt. Every coach that has worked with him has said he is a huge disruption in the middle and makes everyone around him better. He busted his a$$ to get back on the field and i’m sure he’s doing it again (not unlike Caddie and Price) White, Sapp, Millard etc. all got his back. Many times this fanbase picks the wrong people to attack. I guess we all know better.

Face it, the past wasn’t what we all wanted/expected, but I would say expecting a rookie to be Sapp is VERY unrealistic…. Suh’s sacks went down from 10 his rookie yr to 4 last yr. Show him the door? Mathew Stafford missed his first two years too… I doubt anyone in Michigan is calling for his head.

I’m giving our kid his contract to mature and make / break it. I think you should too.

A major knock coming out of college against McCoy was how badly he performed on the 225 bench press at the combine. Many experts discussed that he could not have been taking weight-lifting seriously at OU and been so weak – if I remember correctly he did less than 50% of the reps of some of the stronger lineman.

As Warren Sapp has said, “You don’t lift weights on the 50-yard line.” BTW, Sapp had terrible weightlifting at his combine. How’d that work out?

Hey Joe, if you get the chance to talk to Gerald McCoy again, maybe you could ask him if he’s talked to Davin Joseph about that Yoga stuff. If it can get Joseph through a season without an injury, maybe it could help McCoy as well.

Unfortunately if he cant stay healthy he will be shown the door or at the very least not re-signed, regardless of talent or potential see Big Bob Sanders. The guy hasn’t done a lot in the two years we have had him, but to call the dude a bust after only 2 years in the league is a bit premature. When on the field he is one of our more talented players, unfortunately talent does not always equate to production. Fortunately he is only 2 years in and is still learning to play with better technique and discipline. Hopefully he can stay healthy this season so we can see what he has, in my mind 16 games and 6 sacks would be very good. Justin Smith had 7.5 this year and is being considered for NFL DPOY. So if Gerald can stay healthy and cause disruption with a few sacks on top if it that would be good with me.

Linemen’s power comes from their legs and @$$. Have you ever seen McCoy from the waste down? He’s massive, and you just don’t drive with your arms. Another one of Sapp’s favorite lines is that “Low Man Wins”. Leverage??? Lift??? Legs??? Hello???

You would have to be a complete Steroid Freak, benching 700#’s to consistently throw 300#+ offensive linemen around. The fact that McCoy had a hereditary bicep problem must have been his fault, right? Wrong, but Raheem did blame him the 2’nd time around if I’m not mistaken.

I’m not sure about our past strength and conditioning program (now all fired!!! Ha) but I’ve read/saw a piece on ATL’s progressive program as well as talked to some of my Ironman / pro athlete friends here in CO. There is no doubt that our understanding for conditioning has changed dramatically and the Bucs could prevent many injuries and keep players on the field by adopting the latest, ever changing nutrition/health and wellness for the team. Also, hand to hand combat!

I think this is a very important aspect of the game and Bucs need to to make this a hallmark of the overall program moving forward. Bucs need to offer something real to players/Free agents instead of just over paying (which we will have to do anyway!)

Millard said ” that he had a lot that needed corrected with McCoy and he needed to be cleaned up mentally” when he arrived (2011). Millard said that McCoy wasn’t where he knew he could be and his stats aren’t great ( he said stats not sacks).

Guys…talking to Thomas, douchebagrudy,etc. it’s like talking to mindless children. They have their tiny minds made up that McCoy is a bust. It doesn’t matter that we were 4-2 at the beginning of the year when he was on the field. It doesn’t matter that our sack production was up when he was on the field. It doesn’t matter that every one who does know something about football says that McCoy is a beast on the field and makes everyone around him better. These guys think they know better. There’s no arguing with idiots. Davin Joseph says McCoy is the best tackle he’s lined up against….Thomas and douchebag says he’s soft. I mean…who ya gonna believe?

Thomas, until you get your facts straight, you probably shouldn’t be telling others to do so.

Also, why just post what Sapp had to say about GMC? Why not talk about what Sapp had to say about Suh? About how 1-dimensional he is, only had a power move and after rotator cuff surgery lost his power this year, that’s why he was ineffective. Why not talk about that? Sapp said that too.

I am sure that the 225 bench has no applicability to football since every evaluator of football talent including the nfl combine uses the 225 bench to measure football upper body strength? That makes a lot of sense.

If I am not mistaken Sapp learned the importance of the bench bc I believe he won the nfl strongest man competition one year and at least one of the exercises was the bench.

You secretly love GMC don’t you Thomas. No one could have this kind of obsession without a man crush involved. Is his poster above your bed? I’m no psychiatrist but I’m pretty sure your thing with McCoy is just a tad on the unhealthy side. Almost stalker like……

I have never in my life seen a “fan” have more hatred towards a player than this buffoon has towards GMC. He uses any and every opportunity to bash him. Doesn’t it get old? What did he ever do to you anyway? Even if he is horrible, so what? Why continue to bash him, because others disagree? I really don’t understand your logic, but I guess that’s a good thing for me. I’m so glad I’m not the unhappy person you obviously are.

As for GMC not talking to Schiano, who the hell cares? I would much rather Schiano build his staff than be having meaningless talks with players anyway. Get ready for the draft and free agency, not shooting the sh!t with players in February! I saw Davin Joseph at the Pro Bowl, and he hadn’t talked to him either, and didn’t sound like he was in any rush to, and there is probably no better teammate on our team than Joseph. It’s totally unnecessary to do that kind of thing now.

And my absolute favorite bashing of McCoy is that he tweets too much. Ironically, the people saying this are the ones who constantly comment on a blog site!!! I don’t tweet, but I have no problem if athletes do it all day. To say it gets in the way of their work is ignorant. I guess you expect them to work out 24-7 and do nothing but football 365 days a year? The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me.

Thomas – The same year (2010) Jason Pierre-Paul only had 19 reps at 225. Yet he’s now a pro-bowl player based on athleticism (and probably got better coaching to this point). So what?

Your beloved Suh had 32 reps, while our own Brian Price had 34. Funny enough, Suh wasn’t available for us to draft, so why you compare any of our DTs to him is unknown to me. You wanna bash our DTs, fine, but I don’t care about Suh. As Sapp said, get a good base against him and there’s nothing he can do. He has no moves and isn’t fast enough to beat a man to the point. Best he can do is run over people. That is, if he’s not recovering from rotator cuff surgery or a major knee injury. Hmm, maybe Suh’s soft too.

Also, what do you care about GMC taking $20 million of the teams money? I mean, were you promised a percentage of what the team saved on their draft choice in 2010 and therefore didn’t get a dime? You scream about him getting $20M, while most fans are crying about how they’re still $50M under the cap (or more, I didn’t look up the actual numbers, much like you usually don’t do either). Hey, I’m not for giving out big contracts to guys that have proven to be bad (Clayton, Q Black, etc), but GMC was an unknown quantity when we drafted him (as are all draft choices). He got that contract based on draft position, not performance.

@Thomas 2.2..”Eric Berry made a Pro Bowl from that draft. Suh made a pro bowl. JPP made the pro bowl. Geno Hayes made the pro bowl from that draft. Rob Gronkowski made the pro bowl from that draft. Devin Mccourty made the pro bowl from that draft. 13 players from that draft have made the pro bowl.

Softy has made the IR twice while being paid over 20 million dollars.”

I was just re-reading this. Er….uhhh…..Geno Hayes made the pro bowl from that draft?? I didn’t know that. Did he jump back into the 2010 draft and then somehow make the pro bowl without us knowing about it???? Hey…I’m not questioning your stats. We all know your research is impeccable…….

Yeah, I can totally picture him secretly wearing his #93 jersey, just wishing that he could be alone with him. Those special feelings you have towards McCoy will not go away by continuing to bash him Thomasina.

I do have an idea for you Thomasina. Maybe you could join the equipment staff for the Bucs, then you could steal McCoy’s jock strap every day after practice. You could put it under your pillow at night and let your mind go wild!

Guys: I dont hate GMC at all, he sounds like a good guy. I hate the spin that has occurred bc of his draft position – some fans and pop stars want so badly for him to be worthwhile that they try to make this subjective argument that it looks like he is getting better.

I have said constantly that he is not a bust yet but drafting him has been a mistake so far – that is inarguable.

Finally, dont compare DT reps at 225 to DE reps – the acceptable numbers are different.

In all seriousness Thomasina, there was an article on Pewter Report the other day that would have been a great read for you. It was talking about how the Bucs have always looked way too far into measurables versus actual game film (both Bruce Allen and Dominik), and that has been what has ended up hurting them. Sabby Piscitelli, Dexter Jackson, Quincy Black, Geno Hayes, and a bunch of other players were picked more so by their measureables, rather than their actual ability to play the game. If you look at New England, for example, they put very little emphasis on these measurable. In fact, there was an article on PFT about how Brandon Spikes is happy Bellicheat looked past his 40 time. More often than not, those measureables mean very little to predict how good of a player they will be. It is an absolute fact that some people raise their game when they put on pads and others raise their game when they put on their underwear.

“I hate the spin that has occurred bc of his draft position – some fans and pop stars want so badly for him to be worthwhile that they try to make this subjective argument that it looks like he is getting better.”

——

What are we spinning???? The damn article was about his recovery from injury!!! We’re not saying he’s a hall of famer idiot! The only one spinning sh!t is your dumb arse. It’s impossible for anyone to even bring up his name without you ruining the posts. Every single GMC article that Joe has ever written has your dumb arse bashing him. Look it up, every single one!!! Please try to tell me that I’m wrong on that one. You won’t because you know it’s true.

Stats or no stats I believe we are considerably better with GMC than without. If you disagree, that’s fine. I’m not a coach and neither are you. But that doesn’t mean that you have to continue to bash the guy. Yes, he needs to do more to live up to his draft position. No one will argue that. But calling him softy and weak and not worth a 4th round pick is over the top. Surely you aren’t’ that stupid to not understand that. Yes, there are other players in that draft that have been better so far. However, I am more concerned with what he does for us for the next 10 years. I’m not going to cry over who we didn’t get, but I’m going to hope for the best for who we did get. Geno Atkins isn’t on this team so I could give 2 sh!ts about him!!! I’m not sure why you do. Move on. You weren’t hollering for him before the draft, so please stop pretending as if you know what the hell you are talking about. You are no more knowledgeable about football than me, and certainly nowhere near at the level of a coach, scout, or GM. So why don’t you just STFU with all your bashing and pretending to be knowledgeable, because you aren’t fooling anyone.

Hawaiian: the Patriot way is exactly how I evaluate players and why objected to GMC at number 3.

I watched him play frequently, my father-in-law is an OU alumn and booster. I studied him further pre-draft. GMC’s stock was based almost totally on potential athleticism and not on College productivity. Mccoy was highly rated by most bc of perceived “get-off” ability and speed (even though his 40 and shuttle disappointed).

If you look closely at his College stats his numbers were very mediocre for someone of his talent. While Suh put up dominant numbers (3 times mccoys in major categories) in the same conference McCoy would frequently havd those totally silent games. I remember OU games where I didnt remember his nane called. In 2009 Suh had three times the tackles, twice the sacks, almost double the TFLs – and was dominant while mccoy was lackluster against the same comp. i remember how suh dominated texas while mccoy was basically not a factor.

That experience was a huge red flag for me. So I totally agree with your premise about being wary of potential when productivity isnt where you would expect it. That defines mccoy and why I believed he should have been drafted much later.

Please Thomasina, you are no scout. You don’t have a f-ing clue how to evaluate talent! Why you continue to pretend that you do is beyond me. For you to think that you are actually qualified to do this is puzzling, and frankly a little bit alarming. So aside from claiming to be a writer, a lawyer, and a former athlete, you are also claiming to be a talent evaluator? Boy, you sure are a multi-dimensional guy aren’t you? It’s amazing that with all those talents you are able to spend so much time on this board. One would think that perhaps you would be a little too busy, but I’m so glad that’s not the case. I guess in a tough economy, even someone with your skill set has a hart time getting work. I’m also glad that through your expert talent evaluation, you are on the same system as the New England Patriots. I would sure hate for you to be using the Matt Millen system. It’s such a shame that you don’t share your talents with the Bucs, because we would obviously be in so much better shape with you at the helm.

Btw Hawaiian: your 7:57 comment: that is a pretty reasonable comment. You are correct that we are better off with him provided that he improves and starts to fulfill his potential and stay on the field.

You don’t need to be employed as a scout to be a talent evaluator. I know a retired football scout and often debate players with him, he has never said your opinions aren’t valid bc you are not a “scout.”

The writing I do is connected with my work, and of course this for pleasure. I only have one paid professional gig, have never claimed to have another.

Also I have never claimed to have played or coached any sport professionally.

Who’s arguing that with you Thomas? I haven’t seen one person say he doesn’t need to stay on the field and get better? Not one. You are the one that continues to bash him for no good reason. We all know exactly where you stand on him, and that’s just fine. You have your opinion, I have mine. But I don’t come on this board and call him the greatest of all time. I don’t say he’s the best in the league. So why do you feel the need to constantly say the exact opposite? There’s simply no point, and everyone is sick and tired of hearing it. Why don’t you understand that?

Uh, yeah, actually you do. That’s like me saying I watch CSI and know all the detective tricks, so I am a detective. I’m actually not a detective, no matter how much I pretend to be one. I can still have a conversation with a detective, but that doesn’t mean squat when it comes down to it. Sorry to break the news to you.

And yes, you have absolutely claimed to be a lawyer. You have also claimed to be an athlete. You make a lot of claims, so you probably just forgot.

You dont read well. Nowhere have I said that I am not a lawyer – I am – I don’t care if you believe it. Lawyers in my area of specialty do a lot of writing.

I have never claimed to have played or coached anything professionally – I haven’t. The only time I injected professional perspective into this discussion was when we were discussing the Talib charges in Texas – I thought it relevant to disclose what I do as did Eric while discussing our analysis of Talib’s potential incarceration.

How about at the college level? Have you coached or played at the college level? How about high school? Have you played or coached at that level? Be clear, what level have you coached at? What level have you played sports at, and what sport? I would bet you will not answer that question.

Of course, we all know that Suh was a 5th year senior in 09/10 while GMC was a Junior. So that’s not completely fair comparing those numbers. If we compare Suh’s redshirt Junior season (4th year) it’s a bit closer.

Suh – 7.5 sacks, 19 TFL, and 39/37/76 in tackles.

We expect McCoy to grow like Suh did his senior year in college. His rookie year he had a horrible D-line coach. His 2nd year he had no off-season OTAs and limited time with a good D-line coach before getting injured. The book is still open on GMC, he still hasn’t completed that “5th season” like Suh has. And Suh started off on fire as a rookie, then fell flat this year.

Again though… Suh wasn’t available when we drafted. It was either draft a different position, or take the 2nd best. We don’t know what happened in the draft room, they may have tried to trade down and couldn’t find a trade partner, so decided to take the best player at a position of immediate need there. That was GMC. None of us are screaming he’s a Pro Bowl player. But we also didn’t give up on him his rookie year. The same rookie year that had him at about the same point Suh would have been as a senior in college, but playing in the NFL instead. We don’t know what will become of him, good or bad, but don’t see any point in CONSTANTLY bashing him when we don’t know for sure what we have yet.

Call him soft if you want, but Suh had major knee surgery that kept him out a year of college ball, then rotator cuff surgery after his rookie NFL season. He didn’t miss games because of it, but he sure lost his effectiveness.

That’s it exactly! We NEVER had the chance to take McCoy OVER Suh, because Suh was gone when we drafted McCoy. I don’t know what your love-fest for Suh is, but get over it.

As for Atkins and Melton, most teams would take a healthy body over GMC the past couple years, but if GMC is healthy you might get a different story from those other teams (purely based on potential and athleticism). Heck, even the Bears gave up a 2nd round pick for Gaines Adams (RIP) based on potential that never had materialized. When JPP was drafted, the biggest knock on him was potential was through the roof, but would it ever materialize? Well, it did and the Giants got a great player for taking the risk and coaching up the potential and athleticism.

And the first line of my post was a quote from one of yours, you did say “While Suh put up dominant numbers (3 times mccoys in major categories) in the same conference”. You may have corrected yourself in a later post. Then again, you also said in your first post in this thread “His highest sack total was 6 against Big 12 competition (Suh had something like 20 sacks against the same comp).” Umm, no… Suh had 12, which is no where near “something like 20”. You also stated in a later post in this thread regarding GMC “if I remember correctly he did less than 50% of the reps of some of the stronger lineman.” which is also incorrect. The most reps by ANY player in that draft class was 45 by Mitch Petrus. The best DL was Jeff Owens (a 7th rnd draft choice of the Eagles who is no longer in the NFL having suffered a knee injury late his rookie year) with 44. No other player at any position had 40 or more. Brian Price had 34, Suh had 32. So, GMC didn’t do less than half of any players reps in that combine. Your memory is faulty, as are your facts.

If you want to spout off facts, or recollections, you may want to look them up first so you don’t look like a fool. As a lawyer, it’d be horrible to walk into a courtroom spouting off facts that are obviously false and basing a case on a memory of a previous trial where your memory is faulty. That would probably get a lot of cases thrown out of court.

Like I said…Tommy is in love. He really does have a stalker like obsession with McCoy. It’s like a kid who plays with himself when he’s 12. That’s fine, but if he’s still playing with himself on his honeymoon he’s got some serious issues (or an extremely ugly wife). Thomas is like that. Bash the guy once or twice and it’s OK. But to just go on and on and on and on ad nauseum is really displaying a juvenile attitude that shows me this guy is certainly no attorney (professionals don’t display this kind of weak minded behaviour and certainly aren’t as illogical as Thomas) and may very well just be some out of work occupy wall street character with some serious psychological problems. Maybe we should just smile at him and talk nice. He might be dangerous…..